15 August 2015

Beauty Habits I Need to Break

Recently, I've been thinking about things i have learnt that have pretty much changed my life in terms of beauty habits. I used to think i had it all figured out for myself and that what i did for my body, my face, my hair was okay and it would continue that way. I was wrong. There are some things that i needed to change and stop doing, in order to see a different and healthy looking person and i wanted to share them with you. I spent years believing i could get my hair to grow just by not cutting it and whenever i saw articles telling me i needed to trim regularly for it to grow healthy, i ignored them. How wrong i was.

So here are my 5 beauty habits i broke, which have made a difference to me and i hope they will encourage you to break your bad beauty habits (if you have any!) too! I'm not saying these apply to everyone but if you have any others please let me know below!

Not Finding Out Your Skin Type.

For ages, i used whatever face wash and moisturiser i picked up from boots or superdrug. Not reading the packaging, choosing mainly what i had seen on adverts. This left my skin dry and flaky and damn right annoying. It was super dry and tight after washing and even after moisturising. When i applied make up it flaked up even more causing my skin to look such a mess. One day, i wandered to the Clinique booth and they checked my skin to determine what type it was. Combination Oily is my thing now and i buy products to suit it. Since i've started doing this, theres no dryness after washing, my oil is under control (most days) and there are no flaky dry patches when i apply my make up. You don't realise it but it's something that helps a lot and it only takes 10 minutes but can change your life!

Squeezing Your Spots.

This is disgusting but we all do it! I used to do i religiously, if i had one, it had to be gone. I didn't realise at the time but this actually made things worse. They were more red and noticeable and stuck around on my face for a hell of a lot longer. Instead, i dab a bit of Tea Tree on the area and leave well alone now. Usually this means they are no more after a day or two! Yay!

Not Trimming Your Hair When It Needs It.

Ahh, total sucker for this one. For ages i've been 'growing my hair' but this just meant leaving it and not cutting it until it grew. Boy was i wrong! I didn't realise it but my hair started to get matted and dry at the ends and was breaking off all over the place. Black top + Split ends = NO NO NO. It was not a pretty site. Although my hair had grown, it was breaking off and looking awful. I recently cut all the broken ends off and my hair has never felt softer or in better condition. I feel your pain in wanting long beautiful hair but you still need to have healthy hair to do it and that means regular trims! Don;t worry, it's taken me about 10 years to learn that this actually helps the growing process.

Not Using Heat Protectant.

I used to wash my hair everyday and in the process use a hair dryer and straighteners every day. Not once did i use heat protection. When i was younger, my hair had been around waist length until i got bored and convinced my mum to let me have it all chopped off. Since then, it's never grown past my shoulders (see also above point). I then realised by reading articles about hair that the amount of damage caused by heat appliances can cause more hair breakage. No one wants this, so i invested in heat protection sprays to use before i use any heat on my hair. Although you can't see the benefits straight away, after a while you notice your hair stays in better condition. Imagine using curling tongs and going for that shiny tousled look only to end up with a dry matted frizzy look. Not what you want.

Not Using Moisturiser On Your Body.

Your body is covered in skin but for ages i only bothered with moisturiser on my face. Why? Because it took too much time and effort for me to even think about doing any other part of my body. Looking back now, I wish i had been moisturising by entire skin all along. Whenever i get my legs out for the summer, they seem dull and dry and just awful. With daily moisturising, they soak up that moisture and they look healthier and less.. well.. dead. I would never not moisturise my face, as the dryness feels awful but we always forget out our skin. There's some great in shower moisturisers out there that make this process a hell of a lot easier!